Co-Parenting Over Christmas - In Search of Some Sanity

 

Photo credit: TLC.com

For some divorced or separated parents, arranging and organizing equal time with the children has been an easy and smooth ride while for others, and you know who you are, it has been and is still is proving to be an experience straight out of hell for various reasons.

If you are having trouble with co-parenting over the holidays, here are some tips for you:

• Instead of focusing on the time that the children will be away from you, focus instead on how you will be spending your time with them. Then make sure you have plans and some fun during the time you don't have the children. Don't make them choose which parent they want to be with and when - you are the adults here, sort it out for them.

• Choose not to fight in front of them. And I use the word "choose" because at the end of the day, that is what we do. Yes, this might be easier said than done but definitely, definitely not impossible. If you feel an argument brewing, catch yourself in time to make the decision not to rise to it. I promise you, with practice it becomes easier and easier and the fights become less and less and the little ones happier and happier and more secure and...you get the picture.

• If this is your first Christmas as a divorced or separated parent, then why not start your own family tradition that suits you and the children? Have your children help create the ceremony. You don't have to do things as you have always done them. New journey, new chapter and all that, so do what makes you all happy.

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How to save on family holiday travel

Photo Credit: Conde Nast

During the holidays, family travel usually involves visiting friends and relatives or that much-anticipated vacation destination. But the holidays are also high season. That means top hotel rates, restaurants serving expensive meals, and stages hosting sparkling ballets, plays and rock concerts at premium prices. Here are some tips on how to stretch your holiday budget by saving money on food, lodging and fees.

Cheap eats on the go

Eat the street food. Take advantage of the food truck revolution to cut your lunch costs. In Boston, New York, Washington, D.C, Minneapolis, Chicago, Austin and other urban locales, skilled cooks serve up imaginative fare from their mobile kitchens. The vendors tend to specialize in one main dish, tweaking the ingredients. Empanadas can be beef with potato or Jambalaya style with shrimp, sausage and rice. Tacos come filled with chicken, beef or even lobster. And for dessert, look for trucks selling waffles, cupcakes or custom-made ice cream sandwiches. These mobile meals-on-wheels rove the downtown districts, parking for awhile and then moving on. To track the trucks, check the destination's official visitor website for links and for apps.

Browse the green markets. Indoor farmers' markets bloom in major cities from Toronto to Los Angeles. Although winter might mean fewer home-grown vegetables, the markets lure neighbors and visitors by selling aromatic breads, fresh-baked pastries, crisp apples and other seasonal fruit as well as organic salads and deli meats. Dine in at the markets' inexpensive cafés or bring some goodies back to your hotel room or to your relatives' house.

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